


Reckless

by shimmer_like_agirl



Series: OTP: Hold Me By the Heart [10]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23420602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimmer_like_agirl/pseuds/shimmer_like_agirl
Summary: One of these days, a Watcher will learn to take her own advice.
Relationships: Edér Teylecg/The Watcher
Series: OTP: Hold Me By the Heart [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687282
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

“Fucking assassins,” she muttered under her breath as her dagger finished off a masked man taking his last gasp of air. “Someone please tell me that’s the last of them.” 

After a quick survey of the battleground, Adira set about retrieving what arrows she could to refill her empty quiver. Uncharitably, she buried her boot in the side of a motionless attacker. “Couldn’t let us have even a single quiet day, could you?”

Sagani whistled sharply and pointed off to the east. “Hate to ruin your day even more, Watcher, but it looks like we’re about to have more company. They’ll be on us in a few minutes.”

“Reinforcements?” Edér followed her sightline and groaned. “The brute squad. Big fuckers, too. No way we can take ‘em on here, not after that last fight.”

Exhausted, Adira nodded her agreement. “Make for the trees,” she ordered, motioning towards the woods they’d come through immediately before being set upon by the now-dead assassins. “Get high if you can manage, or find cover and stay low. Let’s see if we can’t find an advantage.” There was no time to gather the remainder of her arrows. She’d just have to make do with the three she’d collected. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll just pass on by.”

“If they’re as dumb as they look, that might just work.” Despite their disadvantage, Edér couldn’t help being a little disappointed. “Would be a fun fight, though, if we were all fresh.”

“Don’t do anything reckless,” she said in a low voice for his ears only, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Wait for my signal,” she told the rest and headed into the trees with Elith at her heels.

Time wasn’t on their side so they fled quickly, leaving a more noticeable trail than she liked, but there was no helping it. Once deeper inside, she scaled a sturdy looking tree and settled, obscured, within its branches. The lion disappeared into the brush not far away. From her perch, she watched the rest of the group try to make themselves scarce, with varying degrees of success. Soon as this was over, she was going to give both Kana and Aloth advanced lessons in camouflage.

It didn’t take long for the pursuers to make their way into the woods. Edér hadn’t been wrong in his description. The biggest of them was half again as tall as the farmer and three times as wide. The others didn’t quite measure up but weren’t far off. Luckily numbered only four, so it wouldn’t be as lopsided a fight as she’d feared, despite their size.

There was some hope it wouldn’t come to that. While massive, they didn’t appear to be overly intelligent or particularly observant. They lumbered past most of the group without issue, although one of them did come a hair’s breadth away from stabbing Kana with the sword he’d thrust into the brushy thicket where the chanter was hiding. They argued with each other as they searched, their words unintelligible. From their gestures, she inferred that one of them wanted to keep searching while the other three were ready to call it a day. Normally she would’ve been insulted at the apathy and the outright laziness they showed in their desire to quit so early, but she was hardly in a position to judge a decision that worked in her favour.

And it did appear to be working in her favour. Outvoted, the lone hold-out finally nodded his head, and the group of behemoths turned to make their way back out of the woods. They had very nearly reached the treeline when a cacophony of vicious barks filled the air, and a fifth member joined their party. The new addition was even more massive, and by the way the others deferred to him, the leader apparently, who wasn’t about to let them lay down on the job. 

Fantastic.

Two dogs, beasts as large and hulking as the men they belonged to, bounded into the woods, drooling and growling. While they weren’t scent dogs by any means, they were quick to ferret out the locations of both Elith and Itumaak and force the animals into the fray. An arrow sizzled through the air and embedded itself deep into the neck of the dog bearing down on Itumaak. It was enough to halt the attack and a second arrow brought the beast to its end.

The need for a signal was moot at this point. Still, Adira whistled sharply and knocked back an arrow of her own, aiming at the second dog facing off against Elith. As large as the dog was, he was no match for the size and agility of the lion. The big cat leapt with a thunderous roar, his large paw connecting, claws outstretched, with the canine’s face. The animals crashed together, the momentum causing them to roll and obscure the view of her shot. Elith was the first to his feet, knocking his opponent prone and aggressively lunging forward to sink his teeth into the dog’s neck. Yelps of pained protest filled the air, quickly silenced as the lion shook his strong jaws.

Adira aimed and fired at the man approaching the downed dog with his sword drawn. The arrow bounced harmlessly off his thick armour and fell to the ground. It was enough to capture his attention, and he turned, eyes searching upwards for the source of the arrow. She loosed a second arrow with the same result as the first, but the third found its mark in the centre of his forehead.

She was out of arrows. The fight surged on below her, and _she was out of arrows_. 

One man and both dogs were down, but that still left four hulking brutes out for blood. From her viewpoint, Adira could see one of them nearing Aloth’s location. The wizard was in the middle of preparing a spell for a different target, unaware of the approach. If she called out to warn him, she was putting him in danger from both directions. She could do nothing from where she was, so she decided to drop back to the ground.

Reaching down, she pulled the dagger from her boot, readying it to throw. In what was starting to be an aggravatingly recurring theme so far, her aim was off. The dagger’s edge caught his cheek, slicing him open and diverting his attention. The distraction gave Aloth enough time to release his spell and refocus his wand on the approaching target, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Weaponless, Adira looked around for something, anything she could use offensively. Spotting her dagger, she raced forward to grab it, bringing it down into the leather boot of Aloth’s engaged target. After pulling it out again, she paused to land a kick behind the giant’s knee, knocking him off balance and leaving him open to a follow-up kick that brought him to his knees.

Confident that her friend could take care of his opponent without further assistance, she clenched the handle of her dagger between her teeth and scaled the trunk of another tree. There was little she could do without her arrows, but maybe the higher vantage point would point out something.

She found herself disappointed when she reached the apex of the tree. Visually, the wooded battlefield was a mess, showing nothing she could use to her advantage. Logically she knew she was better off staying where she was. Her dagger was largely ineffectual against these opponents. There was little she could do to aid the fight below. She was no good to anyone dead.

Logically that made perfect sense.

The ground shook beneath her. One of the brutes ran with heavy, clobbering feet past her perch towards where Edér grappled with another. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight. Panicked thoughts drowned her normally level-headed brain, convincing her that her farmer would most certainly meet his end if she didn’t act quickly.

Despite knowing better, she threw caution to the wind, launching herself as the brute passed by, landing squarely on his broad back and wrapping an arm around his thick neck. With her free hand, she attempted to remove his helmet, knowing the dagger would never make it through the dense metal.

Her ride stopped in his tracks when he realized he now had a passenger. He swung his vast hands at his back and turned in circles in an attempt to dislodge her. She clung fiercely to his shoulders, determined not to lose her grip while still trying to remove the helmet. Overcome with dizziness, he stopped, swaying on his feet for a few moments before trying another tact to rid himself of her presence. 

With a roar he lunged backwards, slamming his back against a nearby tree. The collision painfully forced the air from Adira’s lungs and froze the muscles in her chest. A second slam loosened her grip and caused her to slide down the length of his body. She dropped to the ground where she lay gasping for breath. Enraged, he turned and wrapped one enormous hand around her neck, lifting her to his eye level before smashing her back into that same tree. Desperately, her hands scratched against his tightening grip although her efforts proved ineffectual. 

Breathless and unable to move, blackness soon overtook the Watcher.


	2. Chapter 2

Edér heard shouts of alarm from behind him, but he was in no position to look. With this group, those kinds of sounds meant something terrible was happening. His focus needed to stay on the raging brute whose sole intent was to pulverize him. Turning around would open him up to precisely that opportunity. He was better off not knowing.

Nothing he did seemed to make a difference. The behemoth was as sturdy as he was ugly and remained on his feet despite his best efforts. Much as he hated to admit it, he was rapidly running out of steam. Switching to a defensive stance, he used the shield which had once been a larder door to deflect the barrage of incoming blows. Maybe it would be possible to wait until the big lug tired himself out and needed a nap. Edér would sing the lullaby himself if that promised to speed things along.

Each hefty wallop from the club reverberated off the shield and through the farmer’s body. Eventually, he knew either the club or shield would give. Edér could only hope it would be the former. Gritting his teeth, he held firm, shutting out everything around him and pushing back whenever he could. 

The laboured breaths and groans coming from the other side of the shield gave him the tiniest sliver of hope. If he was going to get a chance to finish this, it had to be soon. The violent slams started to slow before coming to a halt. Before there was even a chance to respond, it became clear this was just a short intermission before the final act. There wasn’t even enough time to grab an ale.

Bellowing loudly, his opponent brought the gigantic club down with a thunderous strike, the force of it sending up a shower of wooden slivers. The shield visibly bent backwards with the next hit and the force of the third sheared the dense wood into two jaggedly separate pieces. 

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

The shock of sudden success caught the brute at a loss, and he stared dumbly at the club in his hand. Shaking his head, he seemed to remember what he was there to do and swung his weapon out in an arc around him, not noticing his target had used that lapsed moment to move out of the way. Frustrated, he slammed his club into the ground then turned to find his mark. With a maniacal grin, he launched himself towards the shieldless farmer.

Edér muttered a silent prayer, then swore and readied his sabre. He didn’t much believe in miracles anymore, but he wouldn’t turn one down if it happened to cross his path. There was little he could do but watch the beast of a man lumber towards him. If nothing else, he would commend the absolute focus of his attacker. There wasn’t a moment where he took his eyes off his target, even when it would have been to his benefit. He didn’t see the pieces of the discarded shield in his path, propped together, jagged edges aimed upwards. 

Waiting.

The roughly sharpened wood impaled the large foot that came down heavily on it. With a shriek of pain, he stumbled, off-balance and unable to find his footing. Still determined to finish the job, he found his target again, but tripped over his bleeding feet and lurched awkwardly, neck first, into the business end of a remarkably sharp sabre.

Blood gushed out of the brute’s mouth as his body twitched one final time before falling to land heavily on top of Edér. Drained, he lay underneath the massive fallen form while he tried to recapture his breath. That was too close. Way too close. Was he going to have to make an appearance at the next temple service they came across?

Before he could conclude his half-hearted contemplation, the weight of the dead body that was slowly crushing him lessened. With significant effort, Kana and Aloth managed to roll the dead weight off and help him to his feet. “Save your thanks for later,” Kana cut him off quietly, gesturing off to his left. “She needs you now.”

As quickly as he could, which wasn’t very, he stumbled over to where Sagani tended to his Watcher. Dropping to his knees beside her unmoving form, he struggled to find his voice. “What happened?”

“Threw herself out of a tree onto one of their backs. Not entirely sure why,” she added, pressing a wet cloth against the still woman’s face. “He crushed her against a tree, choked her until she passed out. Elith and Itumaak took care of him after. Tore him to shreds.” There was a quiet satisfaction in her voice at that. “I used my last restoration potion on her, but it barely made a dent. She’s in a bad way.”

Despite his exhaustion, Edér reached out to grip Adira’s hand in his own and closed his eyes in concentration. The rough copper ring on his finger hummed in response, that hum growing more vigorous when it came into contact with its silver mate that rested on the Watcher’s hand. While it was true they didn’t need to be touching to work, the closer proximity made for a faster connection. What strength he had left poured into her. He could only hope it was enough.

There was only so much of himself he could give without putting himself at greater risk. He forced himself to cut off their connection after a few minutes and watched hopefully for any signs of improvement. She didn’t stir, didn’t wake, but it seemed like her breathing was steadier. Perhaps all wasn’t lost. At least, not yet. He slumped down to lay beside her. If he could get some rest, he could try again.

His companions had other ideas. Aloth neared the pair, ignoring Sagani’s look of warning. “Is staying out here altogether wise? We’re exposed out here. If my calculations are correct, we’re only a few hours from the next town.”

Edér propped himself up tiredly on an elbow. “And how do you propose we get there? In case you missed it, Adira’s in no shape to travel. You gonna pick her up and carry her all the way there? Maybe we can ride in our non-existent wagon. We’ll be there in no time.”

Heat burned at the wizard’s cheeks. “We wouldn’t be in this position if we had a healer with us. She’s practically dead, you’re almost no better, and we’ve used every last potion we had.”

“What do you want me to do? Should I go back in time and ask Durance not to piss her off? You want me to tell her she shouldn’t send him off with those relic hunters? While I’m at it, I’ll go tell Pallegina she can’t go to her meeting with ducs.” Unable to keep himself propped up, he dropped back to the ground. “Sorry you’re upset with her decisions, but maybe you can wait to see if she recovers before questioning her leadership.”

“I wasn’t! I was merely trying to….”

Sagani’s voice interrupted whatever was about to come next. “Come help us set up camp, Aloth. Let them rest.”

If the elf said anything in response, it was lost as sleep overtook the farmer.

He slept fitfully that night, underneath the full moon overhead, plagued by nightmares he would never be able to remember. Frequently, he woke in a cold sweat, chest constricted and short of breath. Each time, without fail, he checked on her, the lump in his throat growing larger on seeing there was no improvement.

Hours away from sunrise, he gave up on the pretence of trying to get any kind of restful sleep. Instead, he curled up against the motionless body of his lover and listened to her soft, even breathing. So used to her not sleeping, seeing her like this was wholly unnatural. If she pulled through this, he was never going to joke about her thrashing in her sleep again. Okay, maybe not _never_ , but less.

“Hey,” he said quietly next to her ear. “You’re gonna wake up from this and be good as new before you know it.” He sighed heavily and pressed his forehead against her temple. “You have to. You can’t leave us to our own devices; we’ll implode before the day is over.” That wasn’t much of a stretch considering the current circumstances.

Once again, he focused his concentration on the pair of rings they shared, letting what little strength he’d regained over the intervening hours flow over to her through entwined fingers. Breath caught in his chest, he waited, wanting desperately to hear her voice.

The silence that followed deepened the ache in his heart. 

“I hate this.” He choked on the words, needing to say them even if she couldn’t hear. “This is all your fault, you know. I was perfectly happy standing around and spinning my wheels back in Gilded Vale.” That was a lie. “Then you had to come along and give me a sense of purpose.” That was most definitely not a lie. “If you take that away...well...I might never forgive you. You want that on your conscience?”

Gentle goading proved to be an unsuccessful method of resuscitation, and she remained unresponsive. There was probably nothing that could help her now except time, but knowing that did little to ease his worry. Edér’s thoughts ran rampant, immediately running through every horrible scenario his mind could conjure. What would he do if she died? Or what if she lived but never got better? What if this was the best she was ever going to be?

He was turning into one of those damn depressing doomsayers. Fantastic.

“Okay, let’s try this,” he said, more to distract himself than anything. Thinking dark thoughts wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “By the way, when you wake up, we’re gonna have words. You can’t tell me not to be reckless and then throw yourself out of a tree armed with only a dagger.” He couldn’t help but laugh at that and wish he’d been able to see it happen. “That little knife of yours is good for trimming toenails, and that’s about it.”

“Bullshit.” A croaking voice countered faintly. “It stabbed through one of their boots well enough.”

Edér grinned into the gradually lightening sky, tense muscles relaxing for the first time in so many hours. “Still toes, though. I’d call that an extreme manicure. When you get better, I’m teaching you how to use a sword.” He raised himself onto an elbow to get a better look at her, running a gentle hand over her cheek as he did so. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a house crushed me. A big one. Maybe Caed Nua sized.” Adira laughed, grimacing painfully. “How long have I been out?”

“Three years. We ran out of money, so I had to sell your house. We’ve been camping out here ever since.” His reliance on humour was something he’d likely never shake. “Six hours, give or take.” He sighed then, knowing he needed to be serious for a moment. “You...you almost didn’t make it. If we didn’t have these rings...I don’t know….”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” He swallowed hard, choking back a sob. “Don’t do that again, okay?”

Nodding with tears in her eyes, Adira reached her hands up to frame his face. “Kiss me?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. “Please?”

Not about to turn down the request, he lowered his head to brush his lips against hers. Before he could even think of pulling away, her hand moved to the back of his head, threading her fingers through his hair. She returned the kiss, lips parting to deepen their connection. “I’m sorry,” she said in her still gravelly voice when they parted.

“I’ll get over it,” he told her in a whisper. “But a few more kisses would help speed that along.”


End file.
